A Penny for My Thoughts: Week One Was a Smashing Success

As has been previously discussed, summer is hard for me. I don't relax well. I don't love the lack of routine. But I'm done writing about how I struggle in the summer (at least until next summer). I now wish to discuss how GLORIOUS the new school year is. Today is Friday-- the last day of the first week of our 2019-2020 school year and I'm just going to say it---
WE SLAYED IT THIS WEEK!
I tell my kids, there are enough times in life where you aren't doing as well as you'd like to do. When you're at the bottom and it's a long climb up. When you aren't proud of what you've done. That's okay because that's part of life and part of learning. But sometimes... sometimes you are doing well. Sometimes it's payday for your hard work and you are very pleased with the results. And when that happens-- YOU GET TO ENJOY IT and celebrate it with people you love and who love you. I hope that if you are reading this, you love me. I hope you won't be put off while I take a moment to celebrate the victory that was this week for us.

First off-- THE PLANNERS!! The lifeblood that is our homeschool. We can't function without them and I wouldn't want to. These are the "system" of our school and once the planners are organized and bound, I sort of get out of the way and let them work their magic with the kids. They contain personalized history reading lists, report pages, forms for spelling tests, journal pages, science test pages, planner pages for each week with check boxes for what needs to be done each day. I've been officially homeschooling for about 17 years and these pretty much represent all I've learned-- as far as organizing and executing our homeschool .

With Bethany to shortly head off to college, Elinor is the queen bee-- the top dog-- this year. Junior year is the big push to get ready for college. No messing around junior year.

Full school schedule
AM and PM swim and water polo practices
Riverton City Youth Council
Laurel Class President
Seminary
Piano Lessons/Practicing
Works cleaning house for my brother
Usually the last one to know how awesome to know how awesome she really is

How does she do it? For starters, she doesn't mess around with bedtime. I am in awe of her myself.

Faith begins the 8th grade-- the final year before high school! This is the year to transition to tougher work, harder books, more challenging math. If there is a tough job to be done-- I'd trust Faith with it any day.

Just got braces this week. Who the heck looks cuter after getting braces than before? This girl.
Swims and/or plays water polo every evening for 2 1/2 hours.
Piano lessons/ practicing
My most entertaining and loyal assistant. She helped me make the planners
Beehives Class President
Goes by the nickname "Beef Cake" at home.
Bob Ross Enthusiast

Cannon is 6th grade. Let's be honest. He is somewhat on auto pilot this year. He isn't to the middle school transition yet when I ratchet up the workload. He likes his school work and he's good at it. I have some bigger fish to fry this year, so as long as he does his part, I foresee rather smooth waters for him (and me) this year.

Level 4 at Ballet West Academy-- dancing everyday except Wednesday and Sunday
In a band (along with George) and learning the guitar.
Piano lessons/practicing
Great neighborhood friends
The 11 year-old "Renaissance Man"
Leader of The Brothers Fox
Someone give this kid a mic

George is beginning third grade-- where it gets real! Book reports, grammar, multiplication, more reading. He stepped up to the challenge this week and I think he'll make tremendous progress this year.

George joins Cannon at Ballet West Academy at Thanksgiving Point. He'll be dancing three days a week there and one day at Wasatch Arts doing a tap class.
Learning percussion in the band with Cannon
Piano lessons/ practicing
By far the most coordinated Fox on any kind of wheels-- rip stick, skateboard, bike, heelys.
Best tricks on the trampoline
Great friends in the neighborhood
Bursting with creative juices

Oh YES! We have arrived-- Peter is not doing Kindergarten this year because he has a later birthday and we decided to wait a year to officially start school. Peter has been the most delightful surprise in regards to academics and piano lessons. I feared the worst and have discovered the best! He loves it. He gets it. I think this is going to work:)

Learning to read and write numbers
Piano lessons
Riding a big boy bike
Beginning his first dance class (along with Greta) in September.
Loves "huggy time" and stories
Most likely to call someone his "arch nemesis" and mean it

No planner for Greta, but she is the best part of all of our days. She copies everyone-- wanting to do piano, and handwriting, and computer school.

She begins dance with Peter next month.
She gets toted all over the place and still wants to go with me whenever I leave the house.
She has a best little friend she loves to plays with.
She changes her clothes no less than four times a day.
She is potty trained night and day

At the end of this stellar week I took a picture of the middle kids with their completed weekly reports. George wrote a report on a book he read, What Was the Underground Railroad. Cannon wrote about Teslas. Faith wrote about Bob Ross. They are as happy as I am to be back to school. We finished reading aloud Holes-- one of our favorites.

More Bob Ross inspiration.

The results of Cannon's efforts. He called it, Empty. You wouldn't believe how hard it was for him to take a sad face picture. He is is father's son.